Electronic devices, such as personal computers, laptops, mobile phones, and the like are increasingly equipped with touch screens or similar interfaces that enable a user to provide input by writing or drawing with a stylus, pen, or other pen-like device. For instance, tablet computers, which include touch screens as the primary user interface, have become popular alternatives to conventional laptops with keyboards, mice, etc. The ability to draw or write by hand on the touch screen offers substantial flexibility regarding possible inputs. However, user interfaces of many modern applications do not easily accommodate writing and drawing during normal use.
Use of a pen or pen-like device typically requires a step to activate pen input capture software/technology, such as pushing or toggling a button, selecting a pen input mode, activating a pen-compatible application, etc. This preliminary step makes use of a pen with an electronic device unintuitive and less accessible than, for instance, writing on paper with a pen. Applications may require a user to select a particular button in order to activate a pen-compatible mode, or may simply not support pen input in a useful way. Additionally, a touch screen user interface that displays a desktop or default interface without any active pen-compatible applications may not include a capability to handle pen input. With existing systems, the user experience can be clunky or unpleasant when attempting to quickly use the pen/touch screen capability.